Cocalico to participate in mock trial competition

This month, Cocalico High School will join the other 248 teams from 291 high schools across Pennsylvania will be competing in district and regional levels of the Statewide Mock Trial Competition, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.

Pennsylvania’s mock trial program, now in its 35th year, is one of the largest in the nation.

“Throughout its history, the competition has offered students the opportunity to learn about the laws and the courts and to build important communication and teamwork skills that will serve them well throughout their lifetimes,” said Jonathan D. Koltash of Harrisburg, chair of the association’s Young Lawyers Division and co-chair of the Mock Trial Executive Committee. “I know firsthand the amount of time, effort and energy that goes into planning and executing this program each year, and extend my deep appreciation and gratitude to the hundreds of teacher, lawyer and community member volunteers who make it such a success time again.”

During the competition, eight-member student teams are given the opportunity to argue both sides of the case in an actual courtroom before a judge. The students, who play the roles of lawyers, witnesses, plaintiffs and defendants, are assisted by teacher coaches and lawyer advisors in preparing for competition. Lawyers and community leaders serve as jurors for the mock trials. The juries determine the winners in each trial based on the teams’ abilities to prepare their cases, present arguments and follow court rules.

The district and regional levels of the competition will continue throughout February and March. At the conclusion of the local competitions, 14 high school mock trial teams will advance to the Pennsylvania Bar Association Statewide Mock Trial Championships, March 23 and 24, in Harrisburg.

The winning team of the state championship will represent Pennsylvania in the national mock trial finals to be held May 10 – 12 in Reno, Nev.

The Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, the charitable affiliate of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, is providing funding support for the statewide competition.

Serving along with Koltash as co-chair of the Mock Trial Executive Committee is Jennifer Menichini of Scranton.

This year’s hypothetical case is a civil trial to determine whether the plaintiff, who exposed a fellow colleague’s alleged bribery, was withdrawn an offer to her employer’s Leadership Development Program in retaliation against her whistleblowing to cover up the bribe or a business decision to cut ties with an unreliable employee.

The case was written by Jonathan A. Grode of Philadelphia, Paul W. Kaufman of Philadelphia, Koltash and Talia Charme-Zane, an alumna of the Pennsylvania mock trial program and former captain of the Central High School team in Philadelphia, with assistance from Michael Schwoerer.

For more information about the 2018 Pennsylvania Bar Association Statewide Mock Trial Championships and to read this year’s case, go to the Young Lawyers Division’s section of the PBA website at www.pabar.org. Interested volunteers should contact Maria Engles of the Pennsylvania Bar Association at 800-932-0311 # x2223.